At a venue based event, 'housekeeping' tends to include 'there is no planned testing of the fire alarm system today', the location of the toilets, timings of the key elements of the day, invariably the prescribed hashtags and perhaps the wifi code.

TOP TIP: hashtags, Twitter handles and wifi code should be on 'table talkers' on each table, printed to appear at the top of each page of the event schedule/programme or on an easy to hand out info flyer.

For the extended audience, it's one major thing, 'What to do if the internet goes down'!

I attended the Stage Management Association's one-day workshop for stagemanagers looking to move up to Company Manager. This was no ordinary workshop. I got my place because an attendee living in Portugal and 9 months pregnant wanted to attend too and I provided digital facilitation via Skype making her attendance possible.

The photo above shows all attendees listening intently.

I'd wanted to try this for a while.

How I did it.

MacBook Pro with Skype installed

Lansing Altec portable speaker

Slik Compact II Tripod

Logitec C920 HD webcam with built-in mic

Lavolta Ergonomic Laptop Table Desk

iPad2 with Skype installed

Bluetooth mobile keyboard

It's not the most elegant solution but with investment in equipment and the right platform, the sky's the limit. The experience was crucial. Can a workshop be attended remotely with maximum value being received by the remote participant? Good audio and video, check. However, Facilitation is the element that makes this work.

Unlike the equipment, participants are not plug-and-play. Those taking part need a little more direction and attention before the event to ensure the venue, event host, those participating and the online event host (me) establish a common understanding and expectations are managed. On this occasion, it was with the course materials, session speakers and provision to dialogue with the participant.

It's easy to forget that the pile of technology on the desk, wires, camera, speaker and screen are a person.

Patricia attended from Portugal via a Skype setup. Once she was 'dialled in' those attending at the venue could see and hear her and vis-a-vera things fell into place. was very happy. But as a Stagemanager by trade myself, I was very interested in the workshop on a personal level. I am currently considering returning to the theatre and the CM role interests me greatly especially with the social media insights I have gained over the last 10 years.

Overview of the day - in case you are thinking of taking the Elements of Company Management course when it runs next.

Everyone has a story. We are analogue beings adapting to a digitally enabled world. This is my story. It all starts with a square peg and a round hole. It’s about personal perspective, about understanding your own story and its place beside everyone else’s. When did you plug in?

I'd been capturing, live streaming and producing media for projects for the last few years and my presenting confidence had plummeted since I hadn't done any talks for a while. I also found myself out on my own after being in a collabortive partnership where I'd taken a different direction to my original career journey. As sad as the close of that era in my life was I had to accept and embrace change to move on.

Standing up where I knew it would be recorded and provide me with an asset of me presenting not created by me was my key motivator.

So thank you Ignite Liverpool for this opportunity.

I do hope I get to present again in 2016 but, and this is why Ignite Liverpool had been on my radar I will be attending via the livestream they run each time.

Emerging out of the results and lessons learnt from the 2014 Arts and Audiences Conference in Rekjavik, where the Digital Audience Experience (DAEx) was conceived as a real time experiement to extend the reach of the physical event audience using digital tools. Extend The Audiences was commissioned by BAFA - British Arts Festivals Assocation's Mind The Gap conference in 2015.

I wish to begin by talking about the finances. Essential expenses are non-negotiable, (travel, accomocation and the provision of a sensible meals allowence) a digital audience expeience can cost a little as you can afford. I remember well something I learn attending various business seminars, Marketing should be seen as an core investment not an extranious expense. The same is true of when considering an audience. What is the value of your online audience? Do you want them to pay for the online offering? Do you want them to subsidise the provision on the venue-to-web content? Is the content produced by a social media team as bragging-promotioanl-ambient-fodder or, Do you want to encourage the participation of those who wish to join an online audience 'experience'? Are you wanting an active or passive audience?

The pursose of both events (Arts and Audiences / BAFA's Mind The Gap) was to bring together like-minded professional working in the sectors of 'arts and culture audience development' in regards to the Nordic Councils' Arts and Audiences Conference and for organisers or arts, music, culture and science festivals in regards to UK based oganisation BAFA.

Ever since the conception of MediaCampNottingham which chose to run a business event on a saturday, my own audience demographic tartget has been those looking to continue their own personal and professional development, often refered to as CPD. Depending on where within an organisation you are employed opportunities to develop knowledge can be limited. Being a regular conference delegate on behalf of your employer is a privalege afforded to a few. That opportunity may require a report back to the wider employ in the department or it may be a peer privelige to provide opportunity to meet fellow professionals working within the sector in which you work. This tends to be primarily to share findings, research and resulting case studies. Influental people are invited to deliver talk, presentations and lead workshops.

A good conference can be inspiring, informative, enriching and instrumental to developing further from a knowledge and industry underderstanding and in networking with future project partners.

But not everyone gets to attend. Extending the Audience is about embodying that sentiment. With wifi and connected meeting rooms with projectors I've long been an advocate for streaming events into board rooms with refreshements, or groups meeting geographically to collectively watch a livestream of an event. Platforms like Appear and Google Hangout can take 8 connections. That can be single face to face conections or windows on entire satilite micro events or gatherings all connecting to the 'video room' for a untiting experience using the digital environment as the common space.

Using existing mainstream platforms and direct dialogue with the registered digital audience registrants I create online audience experiences with real value to those individuals participating remotely. If you were wondering I am an independent social media practitioner and capable of operating independently of a venue's infrastructure. I require power and a good 4G mobile signal.

On Wednesday 7th October 2015 I went to my very first networking event since relocating to Long Eaton. Held at Leicester's Exchange Bar on Rutland Street in the heart of the Cultural Quarter. I made my way on train which was super easy only being a 5 min walk from the station.

I wasn't sure what to expect as I've become rather jaded when it comes to networking events if I'm honest. It was a useful evening, lots of talk, lots of buzz, a good range of digital business types with varied interests which for me can be a bit overwhelming so I stepped aside to reflect ...

check out my AudioBoom - http://bit.ly/leicdigiex01

I did ask my self 'Why was I there?' to which I answered, 'to build new connection and perhaps find some consultancy work.' It was only after my podcast reflection I realised I was credibly a blogger and enjoy making media to share, especially when once the event is over its never to be repeated.

There may be future events under a brand banner but the circumstances and people attending will never be repeated. This was the launch of Leicester's Digital Exchange and as I had by vlogging stuff in my bag I ask Lead Organiser Ann Stanley MD of Anicca Digital I was interested to know why the event had been conceived and what drive was behind its delivery. Ann answered all my questions with passion and future vision. These Digital Exchange meet ups are going to be monthly. There is also E-Commercial - Ecommerce Marketing & Technology Conference on the near horizon (Nov 3rd) taking place At Curve in November.

I never like suggesting how to watch a piece of media, it shouldn't be necessary but... if was suitably and cosily casual in the Exchange Bar's cellar and the lights were low. Probably best watch smaller rather than larger on your screen. Also, to stop me over producing regards the edit there are no titles or incidentals to keep the piece simple. After all I keep telling myself its the sharing of the media that matters.

This is massively overdue post but with the assistance of screen clipping tool Skitch I think I'm ready.

Ok, context first

I have been live tweeting at events since 2008 and its always been a conversation and connecting tool. Who is in the room and who is not, is important. If you are not its quite nice to see photos of the speakers but all the 'hey look at me, don't you wish you were here too' photos and who's up next tweets... STOP!

Thats a bit hash... what I mean is they are great for 'your' networked audience but the audience following the hashtag IMHO want what all the 'on the ground' audience want, to learn from the wisdom of the programmed speakers, draw insights from discussions and panel plenaries. Oh and network.

OK So photos are welcomed to put the 'in the cloud' audience in the picture. For us in the digital audience its a common frame of reference to be able to empathise with the activities you are participating in at a distance online. If I'm commissioned to tweet my objective is to visualise the audience as a whole within the twittersphere and communicate with them. Present or remote isn't important. My challenge is always to generate a coherent stream of activity, a stand alone stream containing all reverent content, chatter, user generated media and the official event voice. I am not necessarily the 'official voice' but the conversation laser's focus operator!

Now... I'm getting to the point I promise! Networking conversations 1-2-1 are part of the experience at any conference but most of the time it's dialogue between groups or one person introducing two people to one another and is rarely binary back and forth ie @name to @name.

There is a dialoging feature which was present in the pre twitter ownership days of Tweetdeck that made my role as connector and stream curator easier. It disappeared and never came back.

Here's how it works - I have found a little known Tweetdeck alternative, Janetter that has the feature.

Its about responding to multiple people in one tweet in the click of a mouse, logically compiled as I, the curator reads the activity in real-time. I hope these screen shots illustrate my point.

First the tweets and colleagues I wanted to engage.

Tweets from my Firefox side panel column displaying Twitter

It was responding to them that helped me break down the long felt frustration of the missing feature in to a blog. So thanks Kate and Jen if you read this. Do let me know how your trips to Edinburgh turned out.

Anyway...

Kate @BustingFree and Jen @jennifermjones are not in the same networks as far as I know. I met Jen several times after she attended MediaCampNottingham and, forgive me if I'm wrong Jen also as part of the Amb:IT:ion program roadshows. Kate on the other hand sat on Equity's Independent Theatre Arts Committee with me for several years and I follow because she had the awesome idea of building a theatre in a bus. Both are always interesting reads and following their activities on twitter over the years gives me a sense of where they are at professionally always wanting to find time in my calendar to coincide locations to meet up. I remember a time when everyone I knew were numbers in my mobile phone now in the social media age they are status updates in a constantly moving stream of activity, my home twitter feed. Better but thats another post. I digress! This is about illustrating this lost feature.

Bare with me! It is a long lost feature and you are probably nonplussed by my indignation. I want to communicate when d0ing this dynamic dialoging at events and not have to faff with the interface.

Best way I could think to illustrate my point was with screenshots.

Original Tweets in Tweetdeck

Tweetdeck

Hitting Reply to Kate

Clicking the Reply icon creates a message to either Kate (above)

Hitting Reply to Jen

OR Clicking the Reply icon on Jen's tweetI can send send a reply to Jen (above)

It never used to be this way you could build replies.

Yes I can Reply by typing/pasting both @names into a new tweet or hope the autocorrect offers them up to me. But on the fly, in an event thats not really an option. I did explore Hootsuite for this 'reply building' feature and I had resigned myself to its absence. It changed the way I tweet. So what happens in Hootsuite? (it was this reply building feature that led me to favour Tweetdeck over Hootsuite back then)

Original Tweets in Hootsuite

Tweets displayed in Hootsuite

Hitting Reply to Kate on Hootsuite

Hitting Reply to Jen on Hootsuite

Just as before with Tweetdeck I'm forced to reply to one person at a time. As I'm writing this it seems so minor but it fundamentally changed the way I interact with Twitter. I like Twitter less since the change happened and I have bemoaned its loss ever since. I kept an old install of Tweekdeck to keep this feature but finally it was closed down and the browser based version we have today superseded it.

OK... THE FEATURE

I discovered a little know, or so it seems twitter client called Janetter.

Original Tweets in Janetter

Tweets displayed in Janetter

Hitting Reply on Kate and Jen's tweets

With Janetter clicking a reply icon builds on the tweet being composed, it included all the other @names in the tweets and the hashtags. These replies can be from different columns or accessed by scrolling further down the stream. Once all the @named people are included you can tidy up the hashtags, remove any @names you don't need in this tweet and write the tweet... of course then SEND.

And thats it the missing feature.

Another unique (a word to use with caution but I haven't seen else where) is the ability to change the font used in the app. This means the OpenDyslexia font can be used making it super stable visually for me to read.

So... What do you think?

Do you use Janetter too?

Have I missed another platform, tool or service you think I should look at?

I have seen Owen Jones taking part in several panel discussions on television and the opportunity to hear him speak at FutureFest this year was a hi-light for me. A lot of attention was gained by Edward Snowden's appearance via Google+ but for a trade union member and social technologist Owen's talk did not disappoint.

I was at FutureFest for just one day and planned my time meticulously. As a dyslexic I use the assistive technology 'Livescribe' and the audio I captured I'd like to share with you.

Please listen to Owen Jones's Politics of Hope talk. It's 24 mins 18 secs - I'm happy to continue this post as a discussion in the comments if anyone is interested.

Do you have a QR code scanner of choice? Do you have a QR code scanner at all? What about creating them? If you don't use QRcodes what about link shorteners like bit.ly? For the leap of uber geekery, where do you stand on augmented reality?

I am always looking to optomise and declutter, part of that is not acquiring more.

Heading to FutureFest on Sunday my thoughts turn to packing and preparing to be present. Business cards are a staple, but if my card collection and networking experience is anything to go by I tend to exchange tweets, exchange email via DM (direct message) and meet for coffee if a work collaboration is really on the cards.

I do like cards and have quite a collection! I tend to attend events in many capacities so getting a one size fits all card is always problematic.

I do meet people who are far more interested in the projects I've worked on and supported rather than me so I used to carry a few project packs or booklets in a folder.

Now I carry a key ring. (see picture above) I like to share and distribute the project findings, especially in same sector conferences.

This would be brochure number two I'd be carrying around. Its the consultancy service I offer and I tend to be at conferences to represent client projects and not to promote myself. If anyone asks I'm prepared if I have a code that can be scanned. I'm looking for clients with a spirit of tech adventure. It they have a scanner it tells me a lot about their mind set.

I also have one with my contact details, including a follow link to Twitter and G+ plus a YouTube video showcasing the Livestream continuity studio, which is part of the Digital Audience Experience I'm working on right now.

I've got a few more QR codes... There is also the event app for Arts and Audiences created with Bizzabo and a code for the Bizzabo app itself. Only thing I can't have a code for is a QR code reader!

So I wonder if anyone at #FutureFest will have a quick draw QR code reader?

NESTA asserts to be the UK’s innovation foundation. They say it “uses FutureFest to gather some of the most radical thinkers, makers and performers together to create an immersive experience of what the world might be like in decades to come.” Is it audience or participants they want? Where does the line get drawn between speakers sharing, industry networking, sector research, practitioner showcases and the general attendees experience?

FutureFest is designed as a multi-format festival, which gives visitors ample opportunity to take self-guided journeys. Is life not a self guided journey? This event, like any event needs linear thought. Conferences do tend to run multi-threaded programs. You can't be everywhere and as nice as the OpenSpace ‘rule of two feet’ is, it isn’t a solution for indecision.

FutureFest tell us on their site "The programme will span discussions, performances, installations and interactive experiences. Attendees will be engaged as active participants, informed and challenged to explore and formulate their own vision of the future.” So we are promised engagement, information and provocation encouraging us to determine what the future will look like from where we stand today looking forward with the explorations that are taking place.

This position is important. Where we are now. This impacts on the understanding we have in the future. We are all aware that the generation classified as ‘Millennials’ are categorised by their perspective on technology, that they don’t know what the world was like before the dawn of the pervasive web. A similar generation would have been those who had no living memory of life without the electric light switch. Going forward a defining era will be that a generation will emerge with no living recollection of a time without augmented reality.

The physical senses are important and this is clear to me as I look at the FutureFest program and plan out my time. How will they, the organisers engage me in these sessions, in the event itself? What information will they provide? How will they challenge my perspective? Will they shape my thinking? Will it impact my work? Will it help me?